On Friday, September 14, Senator Tim Kaine, his wife Anne Holton, and 7th District Congressional candidate Abigail Spanberger joined Matthew Shepard’s parents, Judy and Dennis Shepard, for a special performance of excerpts from The Laramie Project.

Richmond Triangle Players’ production of The Laramie Project, which premieres later this month, is intended to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s murder. Shepard was murdered in October 1998, tied to a fence and left to die outside Laramie, where he was attending the University Of Wyoming.

The murder focused the country’s attention on the lack of hate crime laws in many places throughout the United States, including Wyoming. The play, originally produced in 2000, focuses on what happened after Shepard’s murder, and draws from news reports and interviews conducted by authors the Tectonic Theater Project in the aftermath of the murder.

In addition to the excerpts that were performed, Tim Kaine, Abigail Spanberger, and Judy and Dennis Shepard all spoke at the event. At a time when hate crimes are becoming more frequent and are being reported less often, the Shepards encouraged everyone to be aware of what’s happening around them, and to be involved in the political process, especially on the local level.

Kaine has a history of supporting LGBTQ rights, and is currently working with Senator Ed Markey and the Matthew Shepard Foundation to pass a bill that would outlaw “gay panic” and “trans panic” defenses, in which murderers claim that their fear of LGBTQ people caused them to experience temporary insanity and therefore shouldn’t be held liable for their actions.

Abigail Spanberger is currently running for Congress against Dave Brat, who opposed marriage equality and has urged President Trump to back “religious freedom” laws allowing businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ people. Also in attendance at the event were state Senator Adam Ebbin and Delegate Mark Sickles, both of whom are openly gay members of the General Assembly.

Here are some photos from the event, courtesy of Tim Kaine’s campaign:

The Richmond Triangle Players’ production of The Laramie Project will run from September 26 until October 19 at the Robert B. Moss Theatre, located at 1300 Altamont Ave in Scott’s Addition. Tickets are available now, and can be purchased at rtriangle.org.

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